The ANZ Job Ads series showed total job advertising rose 2.1% in September, bouncing back from a 1.5% fall in August.
''Improving signs in September are welcome, but overall trends still suggest more moderate employment which is set to result in an upward drift in the unemployment rate over the remainder of the year.''
In Otago, job advertising annual growth fell further into negative territory with -4.9% growth but Hawkes Bay continued to buck the regional trend with growth of 14.1% for the year ended September.
A recovery in dairy prices might have contributed to a levelling out in the fall in Waikato job advertisements and some improvement in the Manawatu.
Total job advertisements in the two regions were respectively 9% and 2.1% lower than a year ago, she said.
Auckland remained by far the strongest of the main centres with annual growth of nearly 8%.
Advertising in Wellington was down about 10% from a year ago and in Canterbury, a touch more.
The Canterbury fall was probably due to reports of slowing Christchurch residential construction activity, Ms Zollner said.
The New Zealand economy hit a soft patch in the first half of the year and it was not surprising to see employers taking a more cautious approach to taking on staff, she said.
But importantly, the bounce in the September data reinforced the ANZ view the economy was far from declining, she said.
The September month had rises not only in job advertisements but also business and consumer confidence.
